Anthony Gray, the attorney who represents the Brown family, confirmed Friday to the Guardian that the family is considering pursuing charges against Wilson, who fatally shot the unarmed 18-year-old in August.
“That is an option that is available,” Gray said. “They have not made a decision to move forward at this point, [but] that is an option that is always on the table.”
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the New York Times and CNN on Thursday that, after federal investigators interviewed more than 200 people, analyzed cell phone and video data, and examined Wilson’s clothing and gun, the DoJ was preparing to recommend that no action should be taken against the former police officer.
For federal charges to be brought against Wilson, the investigation would have had to prove that Wilson intended to violate Brown’s rights.
Brown’s death, and the St. Louis County grand jury’s decision not to indict Wilson for it, led to public outcry, with violent confrontations between police and demonstrators in Ferguson, and sparked a nationwide protest movement against police brutality and racial discrimination by law enforcement.
“The definition of civil rights is no deprivation of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness without due process of law, and I can’t think of any deprivation of that greater than the killing of innocent citizens in the streets,” Ashley Yates, co-founder of the Millennial Activists United, who also works with BlackLivesMatter and Ferguson Action, told the Guardian.
“Michael Brown didn’t get any due process … For the government to take this loss of life and find that no deprivation of rights has taken place is curious.”
